Greater New Orleans

The Perfect Fit

I met Dr. Michael Sprague at
the Southern Christian Writers Guild. He spoke about self-publishing, his
Katrina experiences that taught him to "Bet the Farm on God" and Grace
Adventures, his latest ministry venture. Michael had pastored for twenty-seven
years before God launched him into an "out of the box" ministry. His bio on the
back cover of his book identifies Grace Adventures as a "Bible-based,
Christ-centered, grace-motivated, kingdom building ministry that reaches out to
political, business and spiritual leaders."

I was impressed with the
humble, soft spoken doctor of theology who set a timer to guarantee he did not
speak beyond his allotted time. Even more impressed that he patiently waited
two months before I found time in my schedule to interview him for an article
on the Faith blog. I had recently made the acquaintance of Kerri Blache,
Christian business owner of Vianne's Tea Salon and Cafe, and thought that would
be a good place for us to meet. I should have asked Michael if he drank tea. He
didn't. I drank a pot of tea while he talked about God's ability to guide our
lives into his perfect plan, and then he graciously paid for my tea. I meet a
lot of nice people at the Guild.

Dr. Michael Sprague

A teenage Michael attended
church, believed God exists and knew all of the Bible stories when he became
aware of a void in his life. "I had good parents, lots of friends, did well in
school, loved to play sports and always had a few dollars in my pocket, so I
didn't understand what was wrong," said Michael.

He was walking out the back
door of his church to play basketball with friends when a concerned Sunday
School teacher stopped him. "Michael," she said. "I'd hate to get to heaven
and not see you there." Michael
pondered her statement the rest of the week. He also thought about a scripture
regularly quoted in his church: "For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life" John 3:16. As he meditated on the verse, it dawned on him that God
loved him. Even though he knew about Christ, he had never trusted in him. The
following Sunday, the pastor started the service with an altar call. "I made my
decision to trust Christ as my savior that morning, and my life has not been
the same since. When Jesus became the center of my life, the scriptures that
were dull to me in the past came alive."

Lacking clear direction on the
next step in his new found faith, Michael floundered. The demographics of the
sixty member Baptist church he attended fell below seventeen or over
twenty-seven. His spiritual growth stalled without the assistance of a young
singles ministry and Christians his age to fellowship with. His faith grew when
a Christian family in his neighborhood took an interest in him. They studied
the Bible with him, taught him how to serve others and how to share his faith.
They also brought him to Take and Give, an interdenominational Bible Study that
met in a Washington DC auditorium. Every Tuesday, two-thousand young people Michael's
age gathered to study the Bible and learn practical ways to live out their faith.

Michael's pastor recognized
his spiritual growth and appointed Michael a leader of the church youth group. Once
a year, the youth group conducted service for the adults. Seven years in a row, the pastor
asked Michael to preach the sermon on Youth Sunday. Seven years in a row,
Michael said, "No." He was willing to usher, read a scripture and even sing though
he lacked the ability to sing but not preach.

After graduating from the
University of Maryland with a major in business, he obtained a job in the
Commerce Department of the federal government. One of his co-workers, Donna, who
later became his wife, had just graduated from Washington Bible College. He
regularly ate lunch with her and plied her with questions about spiritual
matters. She invited him to a Friday night Bible study for singles. He also
visited her large nondenominational church, Forcey Memorial Church (later
renamed Forcey Bible Church) in Silver Spring, Maryland. Michael realized he
had outgrown his small Baptist church and changed his membership.

"I liked my job at the
Commerce department but wasn't sure I wanted to do it the rest of my life,"
said Michael. "I heard a speaker at a conference say, 'If you deepen your
message, God will broaden your ministry.' I felt God was telling me that he
would use me in many different ways if I knew him better. When I enrolled in
Capital Bible Seminary to learn more about God, I wasn't planning to enter the
ministry."

When Michael started
seminary, he met with the pastor of Forcey. "Michael," said the pastor, "you
will get your academic side in a class room, but you need to get your
experience in a local church. You can get that experience at Forcey, but I will
not ask you to get involved. You must ask me." Midway through seminary, Michael
formed several convictions. First, God's heart encompasses more than the
universal church that includes all Christians. Second, God strategically works not
only through big churches but also through little churches. Third, God works in
communities through local churches.

"As I studied the Bible and
served the Lord, people acknowledged my God given gifts. I was open to God's
leading and constantly evaluating my life. Eventually, everything came together
and convinced me to the core of my being that God had called me to be a pastor
and given me the gift of a shepherd's heart."

By the time, Michael
graduated from the seminary he had experienced every facet of a thousand member
church. Forcey created a new full-time position and hired Michael. Five years
later, he learned Dallas Theological Seminary was offering classes in
Philadelphia. The faculty included some of the top pastors and academics in the
nation. Michael enrolled to pursue a Doctor of Ministry based on a passage in Proverbs,
"He who walks with the wise will be wise, but the companion of fools suffers
harm." He wanted to rub shoulders with the wise.

The other staff members at
Forcey had their niche: counseling,
Christian education, worship leader. Michael had the heart and passion of the
senior pastor who allowed him to preach Sunday nights and Sunday mornings when he
was absent. He also allowed Michael to work with leaders in the operational
side of the ministry when the church launched new ventures. By the time he
finished his Doctor of Ministry course work, Michael was ready to be a senior
pastor.

"Michael, don't accept any
church," said his mentor at the Dallas Seminary. "Too many young ministers find
themselves in a bad fit. I want you to meet with a series of counselors and
mentors. Take a battery of test that will make you think through how God has
wired you, and what would be the best fit for you." Michael embraced his
mentor's wise counsel. After months of tests and counseling, Michael wrote a
list of fifteen things that would make a church a good fit. Then he asked his
wife, "What do you want my salary to be?" She quoted a figure. As a joke, he
added it to the list.

Two years had elapsed when
Michael received a phone call from Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana. The
pastor search committee had obtained Michael's
outdated resume from Dallas Theological Seminary. They wanted him to send an
updated resume for their consideration. Within days, the committee reduced
twenty-seven applicants to seven. Michael was in the final seven. A few days
later, Michael's phone rang. He was in the final three. They wanted him to meet
with an FBI agent who was on their search committee. The meeting went well, and
Michael soon found himself on a plane to Louisiana for a rigorous four day
interview. As Michael processed the four
days he had spent with Trinity Church, he realized they possessed every item on
his list of fifteen things that would be a good fit for him as a senior pastor.

On the way back to the
airport, he said to his wife, "Let's find a community to see what it looks
like." He took the next exit off Hwy 190 and made several turns before he
entered a subdivision they thought looked nice. Michael pointed to a house. "I
would like a home like that one." His wife nodded in agreement.

Several weeks later, Trinity
Church called again. He had advanced to the final stage. Michael and his wife
returned to Louisiana to meet the leadership of the church and congregation.
This time Michael asked a realtor to show him houses. The realtor said, "I have
a community I think you will like." The realtor drove to the subdivision Michael and his wife visited and pulled into
the driveway of the house Michael had pointed to.

"I can be pretty dense,"
said Michael. "God really did not want me to miss this opportunity. He provided
a church that fit fifteen out of the fifteen items on my list, and then he gave me the experience
of the house, which we later purchased. Up to that point I had not
mentioned compensation. All I wanted was to be where God wanted me to be. As
long as I had enough to provide for my family, money wasn't an issue. The chairman of the search committee quoted my salary at the
end of my second visit. It was the figure to the penny that Donna had given me
two years earlier."

Trinity Church flourished
under Michael's philosophy of servant leadership. The staff grew from four to
twelve as forty ministries blossomed to meet the needs of his congregation and to
serve their community. He had served Trinity for six years when he spent a year
crafting a seventy page strategic planning initiative complete with graphs,
charts and projections detailing Trinity's new direction in ministry to
commence September of that year. The leadership adopted and unanimously
approved the plan three weeks before Hurricane Katrina changed everything. During
the difficult months that followed the storm, Michael abandoned his strategic
plan and learned how to "bet the farm on God". His Katrina experiences are
documented in Disaster (Xulon Press 2011).
His Grace Adventures of spreading God's word to business, political and
spiritual leaders have just begun.

Teena L Myers is a freelance writer, editor of NOLA.com's Faith, Beliefs and Spirituality blog, certified Belief Therapist, credentialed minister with the Assemblies of God and member of the Southern Christian Writers Guild and Northshore Literary Society. Her first book Finding Faith in the City Care Forgot releases Fall 2012. Teena lives on the westbank of New Orleans with her husband who has ministered to children for thirty years. To learn more about Teena and read some of her longer teaching works visit teenalmyers.com